Kandariya Mahadev Temple

Kandariya Mahadev Temple This is without any doubt the largest and most magnificent temple in Khajuraho. The elegant proportions of this building and its sculptural detailing are the most refined examples of this artistice heritage of central India.
Kandariya Mahadev shares its high platform with the small Mahadev shrine and the medium - sized Devi jagdambi Temple, thereby accentuating its height and grandeur. As far as we know, after the Kandariya Mahaddev temple, the artist of khajuraho never again attempted to build a strcuture so high or ornate. The temple measures about 30 metres in lenght and 20 m width. The temple shikhara rises 35.3 metres in length.

The temple shikhara rises 35.3 Detres above the ground. from the east side it looks like a huge mountain of stone with a dark cave-like opening set high above the ground. The temple measures about 30 metres in length and cave-like opening Set high above the ground. The name Kandaya Mahadev refers also to Shiva, the ascetic who dwells in a mountain cave, lost in meditation. In profile the pyramidal porch, mandap roofs and conical shikhara looks like a range of mountain staraining upwards till it meets the sky, or shiva. The shikhara of the kandariya Mahadev Temples is borad at the base and in graceful curve grow narrower as it reaches the pinnacle. It is built up of over righty replica shikharas that appear to be clambering up the central tower, giving it bothe force and momnetum on its skyward journey towards divinity.

The Khajuraho temples sit on very large platforms, and it is thought that originally there may have been a lake here beneath them. An association between temple sites and water is appropriate, as an essential part of Hindu worship is ritual bathing, required by the devout in order to purify themselves before entering the sacred area of the temple.
The majority of Hindu temples in north and central India were built between the Gupta period (roughly 300–700 CE) and the 1100s. The temples at Khajuraho are considered among the highpoints of classical Hindu architecture in the northern (nagara) style . This temple and more than 80 others were built by the Chandella kings, who ruled this area of central India between 950–1050 CE. Some temples, such as those at Khajuraho, survived because they were located in remote locations, removed from the conflict and warfare of political and urban centers. Even today, one must fly to Khajuraho, or take a full-day car ride from any other major city center.

Some of the earliest Hindu temples were carved out of living rock and freestanding stone temples evolved gradually after that. Western-style arches and vaults were never used, but masons carved fine sandstone in numerous pieces, which were then assembled and sometimes pinned together using metal rods.
The Khajuraho temples are famous around the world for their fine statuary, many of which depict loving couples, sometimes in erotic poses. These images were disturbing to early European visitors, and even now confound many viewers. Scholars debate the meaning of these images, offering multiple explanations. One interpretation is that they show tantric ritual symbolism. “Tantric” refers to esoteric texts and techniques used in both Hindu and Buddhist practices that offer a direct path to enlightenment or spiritual release using the body’s natural energies as a starting point. Thus, physical pleasure, and more specifically a controlled experience of physical pleasure, could be a path to spiritual achievement. Such imagery may also challenge to the viewer to move beyond the earthly experience of physical pleasure into higher spiritual goals. The location of these loving couples on the temple walls, between the meeting hall portion of the temple and the inner sanctum, seems critical to their interpretation.
Various esoteric and mainstream texts describe sexual activities and postures, including the comprehensively categorical Kama Sutra. It is likely that these erotic sculptures take such texts as the source of their subject matter. Aesthetically, these sculptures are highly sophisticated, expressing virtuosity in their rendering of human figures, expression and interaction, and an extremely imaginative vision of physical acrobatics.